Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Doctor's initiative saves thousands of patients

Pathologist Dr. Himmatrao Bhavaskar hails from Jalna, Maharashtra (Bharat). He worked in Bhiwandi near Mumbai, where 30 % deaths were caused by scorpion bite. He discovered that the PRAZOSIN tablet available in medical stores is a cure. He saved many with this tablet. He used to sleep in the night outside his house in Mahad under a net so that patients were not sent back. His workload increased. He traveled from village to village explaining the treatment to doctors, treated more than 4,000 patients and brought down deaths due to scorpion bite to less than 2%. In 1986, in a single month, 65 patients survived. It was published in LANCET, the renowned medical journal. Prazosin is used today on scorpion bites and snake bites. Countries like Israel, Peru and Brazil use it.